Discussion Questions: How does one become a saint? What characteristics do the saints have in common? Which saints do you look up to and why? Do you believe saints are just like us? Why or why not? What makes a saint a “saint”?

How do we become saints? A saint is simply anyone who has died and is in Heaven. To become a saint in heaven we must live a holy life here on earth first. There are three steps to become a saint: Pray, practice virtue to a heroic degree, and imitate Christ. We will look more closely at each of these steps.

Pray

What is prayer? “Prayer, the lifting of the mind and heart to God, plays an essential role in the life of a devout Catholic. Without a life of prayer, we risk losing the life of grace in our souls, grace that comes to us first in baptism and later chiefly through the other sacraments and through prayer itself”[i] It may seem so simple. We are told thousands of time in our lifetime the value of prayer. Why are we always told to pray and remaindered of the importance of prayer? The reason is found in the quote above. If we are not praying we will risk losing everything. Without prayer how can we even begin to live a virtuous life to a heroic degree? How can we imitate Christ if we are not conversing with Him in prayer?

“It is prayer which allows us to adore God, by acknowledging his almighty power; it is prayer that allows us to bring our thanks, our petitions, and our sorrow for sin before our Lord and God.”[ii] Prayer is the absolute fundamental building block to becoming a saint. Every one of the saints prayed. It is the road map for us to become saints.

Where do we start with prayer? We should have already started praying in the family. If we haven’t been praying as a family then we must start today. Prayer is not just a private matter, but a communal as well.

The types of prayers we should all have a basic understanding of the basic prayers: Sign of the Cross, Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, and Apostles Creed. These prayers not only are great prayers to know, but they also help teach us everything that we need to know about our Catholic Faith. As we mature, we should grow in our prayer life. We grow in math and science; we should also grow in our prayer life.

Practice virtue to a heroic degree

What is virtue? “A virtue is an habitual and firm disposition to do the good. It allows the person not only to perform good acts, but to give the best of himself. The virtuous person tends toward the good with all his sensory and spiritual powers; he pursues the good and chooses it in concrete actions.”[iii]Saint Paul writes to the Philippians, “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”[iv]

There are different kinds of virtues: Human/Moral Virtues (Gifts & Fruits of the Holy Spirit), Cardinal Virtues (Justice, Temperance, Fortitude, and Prudence), and the Theological Virtues (Faith, Hope, and Charity).

What does heroic degree mean? Think of it as levels. Heroic level is the hardest level one can obtain. A hero is someone who goes well above and beyond what is required of them. They do it not for fame or acclamations, but out of the kindness of their heart. They know they have a great power, and they must use that power for good. That is the main line of all super heroes. The hero does not settle for less nor do they settle for what is merely “ok” in the eyes of society. One example is professional sports. The athlete that works their way up through high school, college, semi-pro, and then professional sports does not settle or stop at any one level as if they are done, they move to the highest level possible. Even most “pro” athletes don’t just settle because they have made it to the big leagues, instead they strive to set records and get into the hall of fame. The league recognizes athletes who have excelled in sports placing them in the Hall of Fame. The Church recognizes saints who have practice virtues to a heroic degree by canonizing them.

Why live the virtues out heroically? Many people will not want to live heroically in this world. To actually strive for holiness heroically means to put our necks out there. “It is not easy for man, wounded by sin, to maintain moral balance.”[v] We could easily fail. However, we must remember that we can never achieve this on our own. We can only achieve the heroic degree with and through Christ. “It is not easy for man, wounded by sin, to maintain moral balance.”[vi] If we do live a virtuous life to a heroic degree, “by deliberate acts and by a perseverance ever-renewed in repeated efforts are purified and elevated by divine grace. With God's help, they forge character and give facility in the practice of the good. The virtuous man is happy to practice them.”[vii]

Imitate Christ

The Gospel Reading for the feast of All Saints day is about the beatitudes. The last step of becoming a saint is imitating Christ. We imitate Christ when we live the beatitudes. Jesus brings to light the stark reality in order to become a saint one must not just accept these beatitudes, but embrace them. “The starting point is in the concrete conditions of human life, where suffering is not a chance occurrence, but rather a reality that is connected with the very structure of life. Jesus did not come to do away with suffering, but to redeem it by making it a means of salvation and eternal happiness.”[viii] When we unite our struggles, sufferings, and persecutions and unite them with Christ with a sincere heart this is heroic. Why would this be heroic? It is heroic because our body screams for comfort. Our fallen nature tends to whine and complain. When we are hurt our tendency is to take vengeance on those who hurt us. In fact “our natural inclinations, and passions are prone to evil from our very childhood; and if not corrected by self-denial, they will certainly carry us to hell.”[ix] We must follow the narrow path. We put on Christ. “All the saints have followed the itinerary of the beatitudes – Jesus himself to a supreme degree; for he willed to take upon himself all human sufferings and tribulations in order to teach us how to sanctify them. In Jesus who was poor, suffering, meek, merciful, peacemaking and persecuted, and who attained to glory by this path, Christians will find the most perfect embodiment of the beatitudes of the gospel.”[x]

All the Saints have imitated Christ is such a perfect way that the Church points to these men and woman saying to the faithful, “Imitate them, as they have imitated Christ.” What an honor it would be if someone were to say of our life, “Imitate N.________ as he or she imitated Christ.” Pope Benedict XVI expressed this goal of the Christian at the Holy Thursday Mass when he said, “Dear friends, it is clear that configuration to Christ is the precondition and the basis for all renewal. But perhaps at times the figure of Jesus Christ seems too lofty and too great for us to dare to measure ourselves by him. The Lord knows this. So he has provided ‘translations’ on a scale that is more accessible and closer to us. For this same reason, Saint Paul did not hesitate to say to his communities: Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. For his disciples, he was a ‘translation’ of Christ’s manner of life that they could see and identify with. Ever since Paul’s time, history has furnished a constant flow of other such ‘translations’ of Jesus’ way into historical figures.”[xi]

What if I can’t do these three things? We have to remember that it is only by God and through His Church we are able to reach for such heights of sainthood. God gives us His grace, His Sacraments, His gifts, His mercy, His everything to us so we can reach for such heights. If we humbly come to God, He will give us the resources to be able to do these three things to the will that He wants. We must remember that we all not perfect, but we all should be striving for perfection. We should take comfort that many of the greatest saints in the Catholic Church did not start living out these three steps immediately in their life. All the saints at some point slipped and fell. That’s why the second step is called practice. We practice virtue, and may be able to live it out for a time, but we may fall. However, that does not mean we have failed forever, and can never turn back to God, and become a saint. Oscar Wilde once said, “Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.” Pray for one another, and realize that we all have a future: Sainthood.